Howdy y'all. No Monotonous weather here in Texas. Saturday found yours truly and a group of both Houston and Corpus Christi sea kayakers on the water near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in flat calm conditions. Temps got up to 77 degrees F. I paddled in shirtsleeves, so as to avoid sunburn, and was quite comfortable although we started out in perhaps mid 60s. Had a marvelous paddle and whooping crane sighting. My good friend Marilyn was active with her camera so you can see results at http://community.webshots.com/photo/258233508/258281466BmFxcU and its associated album. Mark Arnold, also a poster here to PW, was with us, as well as several PW lurkers. Our weather luck held; only as we had taken all the boats off the water and were loading on cars afterward did it turn around to rise in intensity and direction from the north. By 8 a.m. the next morning, temps had dropped 40 degrees to 37 F; and wind speeds gusting into the 30s overnight. No, the intrepid, but thin-blooded, Texas kayakers did not put boats back in the water under such conditions but like the smart people we are, donned our heavy jackets and went bird watching instead at ANWR. A few disclaimers - no, I do not have a one-handed paddling technique. I'm just getting ready to get out of my boat. Also, what is described as a forward stroke is actually a high-handed directional correction stroke. I'm hoping to recertify as a Coastal Kayaking Instructor this coming weekend, so want to make sure you're not going to downgrade my technique! Hopefully temps back into the 60s and 70s as we're sure to spend considerable time in the water as well as on it. Sorry, Rafael, you should have done your certification here in Texas and not in the NW if you didn't want to emulate a polar bear. On another note, I have taken my two-part paddle through airports as carry-on luggage (trip in Alaska via Seattle airport). Security did give me a very wary eye and I was afraid I'd made a near-fatal (for health of my paddle) mistake as I spent an hour outside the airport at the Seattle stopover - and realized I'd have to go back through security to get on the next plane. I have looked for a gun case long enough to put my paddle inside it so I could check it, but so far the 2-part 210 cm. Swift has one half that is too long. Gun case looks to me to be best solution to carrying a paddle but measure before you buy! Good or bad side of the paddle challenge was security was so intent on it they did not find the pocket knife in my other carryon bag - which I was horrified to find when I got home and unloaded it. Argh. Natalie Wiest back at work in fair but chilly Galveston, Texas USA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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